Connection passage between railway passenger cars

ABSTRACT

A safety gate connecting passage structure positioned at the end sill area of a railway passenger commuter vehicle and including a pair of spaced vertically extending face plate members aligned with a pair of similarly disposed face plate members on the adjoining passenger vehicle to thereby channel and direct passengers in their movement between cars.

United States Patent Van Der Sluys et a1.

CONNECTION PASSAGE BETWEEN RAILWAY PASSENGER CARS inventors: William VanDer Sluys, Crown Point, lnd.; Thomas J. ONeill, Evergreen Park, Ill.

Assignee: Pullman Corporation, Chicago, 111.

Filed: Dec. 27, 1971 Appl. No.: 212,099

US. Cl 105/8, 105/21, 105/458 Int. Cl..... B6041 5/00, 861d 17/20, 861d49/00 Field of Search 105/8, 10, 21, 458

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1889 Krehbiel 105/458 X12/1890 Elliott 105/10 11/1887 Sessions 105/10 Aug. 28, 1973 469,0512/1892 2,309,073 H1943 2,383,372 8/1945 2,468,590 4/1946 2,826,9983/1958 3,610,166 10/1971 Ellzey 105/458 X Primary Examiner-Gerald .M.Forlenza Assistant Examiner-Howard Beltran Attorney Hilmond O. Vogel andJames J. Conlon [5 7 ABSTRACT A safety gate connecting passage structurepositioned at the end sill area of a railway passenger commuter vehicleand including a pair of spaced vertically extending face plate membersaligned with a pair of similarly disposed face plate members on theadjoining passenger vehicle to thereby channel and direct passengers intheir movement between cars.

4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures We 1, p-

ill. v l8 l6 CONNECTION PASSAGE BETWEENRAILWAY PASSENGER CARS BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION 1. Field ofthe Invention This invention pertains-torailway passenger vehicles and in particular to the corridor type ofstructure which guides passengers during movement between adjoiningcars.

2.'Description of the Prior Art Prior art corridors or devices forchannelingjpassengers between commuter-cars have consisted of chains orcablemembers orothertypes of flexible connectors attached to each car;to guide passengers and provide a safety feature to prevent theirfalling between the cars. The problem with these deviceshas'been'theundesirability ofrequiring a manual operationto connect thecable or chain membersto eachcar. This "manual connection'hasbeeneliminatedby thedesign involved in the .present invention.

SUMMARY The nature of the invention disclosed herein is directed to ameans'for efficiently guiding passengers in their movementbetweenadjacent vehicles of a passenger train having individual .car unitswherein passage between adjacent vehicles is not generally contemplatedbut must be provided for in case of emergencies or necessity.

:In operation on a railway vehicle, the safety gate forms a skeletonizedcorridor consisting of spaced plate member's extending verticallyupwardly from the abutting car buffer plate assemblies and said platesare positioned to remain in an adjacent generally opposed relationshipas the railway vehicles traverse a variety of curves and lateraldeflections. The safety gate is operative upon coupling of the railwayvehicles and does not require any manual positioning or connecting tobecome operative.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a safety gate orcorridor arrangement between adjacent passenger vehicles which isoperative upon coupling of the vehicles to safely channel passengermovement between adjoining cars.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a safety gatemounted adjacent the end sill of a railway passenger vehicle includingvertically extending plate portions abutting adjacent plate portions ofthe adjacent railway vehicle and having said plate portions remaingenerally opposed to effectively guide passengers in their movementbetween the railway vehicles.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent fromreference to the following description, attached drawings and appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view ofrailway passenger vehicles employing the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. I with portionsremoved for clarity;

' FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

- FIG. 4 is an end view of a railway passenger vehicle showing inparticular the safety gate members;

vFIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings and in particular toFIG. I, it is noticed there is a commuter vehicle '10 of the standardconstruction having a body portion 12 having the usual windows 14 anddoor openings l6for movement of passengers to and from the vehicle. The

body portion '12 rides on spaced wheeled truckmembe'rs I8 which'may beof a generally known design and construction. Couplers 20 are located ateach end of all the cars to provide for a secure and somewhat flexibleconnection between cars to allow for relative movement between the carsduring longitudinal movement and when traversing curves.

The open area between adjacent vehicles and above the couplers 20 isdesignated by the numeral 22 and will be referred to as a passageway. Avehicle doorway is designated by the numeral 23 and defines a'n areawhere passengers move from a car interior to the passageway between thecars, and the doorway generally includes a door member 23a.

FIG. 2 best illustrates the typical safety gate arrangement involved inthe present invention and shows -a pair of spaced gate members 24 spacedacross the doorway 23 and fixedly attached to a support post member 26which is mounted on the bufier plate assembly 28 This buffer plateassembly includes a top cover plate 30 which is welded to a buffer anglemember 32. This buffer plate assembly 28'is pivotally attached at thepivot pin 34 to the end sill extension 36 which 'spaces the bufier plateassembly 28 from the end sill 20 to thereby afford a greater degree ofrotational angul a rity to the buffer plate assembly.- On the undersideof the buffer angle 32 are positioned lug members 37 having an internalbore or opening which contains a restraining pin member 38 to therebyform a pivotal connection between the stabilizing arm 40 and the bufferplate assembly 28.

This mechanism for aligning the buffer plate assembly 28 is bestillustrated in FIG. 2 and is well knownir'i the railway art. Thestabilizing arms 40 extend under the car and are connected to stopmembers 42,143 which are fixedly attached to the vehicle underframe.Positioned concentric with the arms is a coil spring or other type ofresilient device which compresses as the stops 42, 43 are moved closertogether to thereby develop a return force to maintain the buffer plateassei'n bly parallel to the end of the car when the misalignment hasbeen removed. Since the gate portions 24 late fixedly attached to thebuffer plate assembly 28 they too will be maintained in correctalignment by the biasing force applied by the spring 40. I

The gate members 24 as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 may include a cutoutportion 46 which forms a step and is reinforced around its periphery byplate members 49 and may be utilized, for example, by a maintenance mandesiring to go on top of or on the roof of the vehiv step in this ladderand also provides a point of stabilization for a person moving betweenvehicles to grasp during his passage. The hand rail 50 is generally around bar member to provide a smooth surface spaced from the top of thechannel shaped member 24 and mounted on offset type of brackets 52 asbest illustrated in FIG. 5. The gate portions 24 include flanged orturned over edge portions to provide a generally U-shaped channel safetygate cross section having required strength and rigidity.

OPERATION FIGS. 6 through 8 which illustrate a few common car positionsare intended to illustrate the corresponding positions of the gatemembers during this car misalignment or relative displacement and areintended to indicate how the safety gates would safely channelpassengers between adjacent vehicles. FIG. 6 shows the commonconfiguration of two passenger vehicles moving in a straight line andhaving relatively little transverse displacement between adjacent cars.In this configuration the gates 24 would be in alignment and opposed toeach other and generally define the sides of the passageway betweenadjacent vehicles to prevent passengers from falling between thevehicles.

The illustration of FIG. 7 discloses a car configuration during a rightturn on a track portion. As indicated, there has been angulardisplacement between the longitudinal center lines of the vehicles;however, there has been no transverse displacement and therefore thebuffer plates will remain in generally complete face-to-face contact inopposed relationship to continue forming a passageway to directpassengers between vehicles.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, when a transverse displacement occurs betweenadjacent vehicles the longitudinal center line of the car will no longerbe in alignment and there is a transverse displacement. During thiscondition there is an associated transverse displacement between thebuffer plate assemblies and their associated gate portions 24. It is apurpose of the design to define a corridor for a passenger movingbetween adjacent vehicles during this transverse displacement, and alsoblock off other courses of passenger movement which could result ininjury to the passenger. Thus a passenger moving through the doorway 23of the vehicle in the lower portion of the drawing in FIG. 8 would movegenerally in an upwardly diagonal path to his left when passing into thevehicle illustrated in the top portion of the illustration in FIG. 8.During this movement the only area generally open and defining acorridor is the desired path between the passageway and all other areasof movement are effectively blocked off by the positioning of the safetygate members 24.

Thus it is noticed by the above description that the safety gatecorridor involved in the present invention provides a method ofchanneling passenger movement between adjacent vehicles efficiently andsafely without the use of cables or chains or other types of flexiblemembers which require manual attachment to adjacent vehicles prior totheir use.

The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate theinvention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar asthe appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who havethe disclosure before them will be able to make modifications andvariations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A railway passenger vehicle having a body unit riding on andsupported by spaced wheel and truck units, said body unit includingspaced end door members and spaced transversely extending end sills, acorridor passenger channeling device for guiding persons betweenadjacent vehicles, the improvement comprising:

an end sill including an extension portion extending horizontallyoutwardly of the end sill,

a buffer plate assembly pivotally attached to said end sill extensionand having a contacting face portion adapted to contact an associatedbuffer plate of an adjacent passenger vehicle,

passenger safety gate means including guide members mounted on saidbuffer plate assembly and spaced each side of said car door,

said guide members having portions extending up wardly of said pivotablebuffer plate assembly and spaced rearward of the contacting face portionof the buffer plate assembly to thereby provide a spacing betweenadjacent guide members of coupled cars.

2. The invention according to claim 1, and:

each guide member comprising a channel shaped member having dependingside flange portions extending away from the contacting face portion ofsaid buffer plate assembly.

3. The invention according to claim I, and:

each guide member having a hand rail means mounted atop thereof.

4. The invention according to claim 1, and:

biasing means pivotally attached to said buffer plate assembly andincluding laterally spaced drive arms extending longitudinally inwardlyof said vehicle;

stop means fixedly attached to said vehicle and said drive arms and saidvehicle attached stop means having an opening receiving the associateddrive arm;

biasing coil spring means mounted about said drive arms between the stopmeans to provide a restoring force to the buffer plate assembly as thedrive arms reciprocate inwardly of the vehicle through the opening ofthe vehicle mounted stop means.

1. A railway passenger vehicle having a body unit riding on andsupported by spaced wheel and truck units, said body unit includingspaced end door members and spaced transversely extending end sills, acorridor passenger channeling device for guiding persons betweenadjacent vehicles, the improvement comprising: an end sill including anextension portion extending horizontally outwardly of the end sill, abuffer plate assembly pivotally attached to said end sill extension andhaving a contacting face portion adapted to contact an associated bufferplate of an adjacent passenger vehicle, passenger safety gate meansincluding guide members mounted on said buffer plate assembly and spacedeach side of said car door, said guide members having portions extendingupwardly of said pivotable buffer plate assembly and spaced rearward ofthe contacting face portion of the buffer plate assembly to therebyprovide a spacing between adjacent guide members of coupled cars.
 2. Theinvention according to claim 1, and: each guide member comprising achannel shaped member having depending side flange portions extendIngaway from the contacting face portion of said buffer plate assembly. 3.The invention according to claim 1, and: each guide member having a handrail means mounted atop thereof.
 4. The invention according to claim 1,and: biasing means pivotally attached to said buffer plate assembly andincluding laterally spaced drive arms extending longitudinally inwardlyof said vehicle; stop means fixedly attached to said vehicle and saiddrive arms and said vehicle attached stop means having an openingreceiving the associated drive arm; biasing coil spring means mountedabout said drive arms between the stop means to provide a restoringforce to the buffer plate assembly as the drive arms reciprocateinwardly of the vehicle through the opening of the vehicle mounted stopmeans.